Mental health is a touchy subject, a little taboo, but it’s also the most important thing to work on – without a healthy mind, your quality of life is largely impacted. Although it’s not an overnight process, there are ways you can improve your mental health holistically.

A few things I want to highlight before diving into the steps; 

1. Your mental health condition, although complex and challenging, is not terminal (if you don’t want it to be). You don’t need to ‘decline as you age’.
2. I have had many mental health diagnosis, each of which I have worked through holistically, so I speak from personal experience 
3. Your mental health is multifactorial – it is not just a medication deficit. 

 So, holistically, here are a few ways you can improve your mental health, starting from today! 

Clean up your diet to improve your mental health. 

Your food choices have a profound impact on your mental health, by way of your gut, your essential nutrient stores, your blood sugar levels, your liver and your nervous system (keeping in mind, your nervous system operates your entire body, and your mind/brain). 

Put very simply, heavily processed foods cause systemic inflammation, can ‘poke holes’ in your gut lining, and cause food intolerance over time. 

Excessive sugar or carbohydrate consumption destabilises blood sugar and leads (in most cases) to weight gain. Blood sugar fluctuations impact mood, directly. 

Nutritional deficiencies, particularly magnesium, B-vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids and amino acids (proteins) that your body can’t source on its own, can lead to negative health outcomes. 

Eating for mental health is important, and it’s very different from just eating for comfort or impulse. 

Move your body to improve your mental health

Cardiovascular exercise, aka ‘Cardio’ is important for brain health, as it optimises the way we use carbohydrates and sugar (which is excessive in the Western diet), and supports us in maintaining a healthy body weight. We also produce endorphins after a hard workout, which is that loving, calming, joyful neurotransmitter. Excessive cardio can lead to burnout and fatigue, which is something to look out for, but overall it is highly beneficial.  

Building muscle with resistance training is also amazing for moderating your weight, burning up stored (or excessive) carbohydrates, and it helps you to feel stronger physically, which translates over to a stronger sense of self mentally, and emotionally. 

Walking is amazing for your adrenal health, which are the organs that provide energy to your body. Make sure you get your 8-10k steps per day!

Lastly there is yoga, dance, pilates, martial arts – all beneficial in increasing overall health, strength and wellbeing. Anything you do to benefit the body, will also benefit the mind. 

Optimise your sleep to support your mental health

Sleep hygiene is important for stabilising the body. We operate like neanderthals, with a natural rhythm which aligns with the sun. When it’s dark we should be sleeping, and when it’s light we should be moving. 

Blue light emitted from screens and office lights tells our brain that it is day time, disturbing this sense of rhythm, which can interfere with our sleep. Caffeine, alcohol, and large meals before bed (particularly sugar, or something that causes an insulin spike), also interfered with sleep quality. 

When we don’t sleep, we feel wired, and our brain and body don’t have that recovery time to flush out toxic waste, and rebuild for the following day. If this happens over months, or years, you can only imagine the impact on the body and brain over time. 

So, get some blue light blockers if you want to sit on your screen late at night, and try to keep to a routine. Go to bed by 10pm regardless of how you’re feeling, and have a strategy to get yourself off to sleep. Eat your last meal at least 3 hours before bed-time, too. 

Connect with healthy individuals to improve your mental health

You become like the 5 people you spend the most time with. Parents are negative all the time? Take space from them. Friends are constantly dragging you down? Distance yourself from them. If you feel like everyone in your life is not supportive of positive mental health, start looking into something you can do in order to meet new people. Connecting with healthy people is something that will have your subconscious recognising what is possible. 

When I was in my 20’s I would eat rubbish, drink myself stupid and although I trained in the gym regularly, my inner circle was extremely unhealthy. Eventually I left that group and connected with like-minded individuals and I’ve done that multiple times throughout my life to ‘find my people’. Keep in mind that healthy people live people who are putting effort into themselves, so once you make that step, you will immediately become more of a magnet for healthy people. 

Seek out professional support to improve your mental health. 

Whether it be a coach, a counsellor, psychologist, personal trainer, nutritionist or therapist, you might need a professional in your corner. It can take time to find the right fit, but what you’re looking for is a safe and supportive space you can use as a mirror as you slowly transform. Nobody can ‘do it alone’, even if we think we can. 

I hope those tips provide some insight into how you can start moving in the direction of great mental health! From food, movement, support, sleep, to professional guidance, these tips will start you in the right direction. 

When you’re ‘drowning’ in your own feelings, the best thing you can do is take just one step towards the future you want. The rest can fall in line as you move along the path. 

Much love, Jen X